and then we came to the end
by emerald-soco
Summary: The cameras never stop rolling." The staff of Dunder-Mifflin face the end of the world. Oneshot, spoilers through everything, if you read, please review.


-1**... and then we came to the end**

The cameras never stop rolling.

XXX

It starts out slow, all the news reports focusing on some new strain of the flu, but nobody ever pays attention to that sort of thing except the elderly and expectant mothers. Nobody in the office is either - Creed may be old, but he certainly isn't the type to worry about vaccination shots - so for a few weeks, it's business as usual at Dunder-Mifflin.

Then Kevin calls in sick for three days in a row and Dwight takes off to "investigate the validity of the claim". When he comes back, he looks pale and shaken, the closest to sick that he himself has ever been, and when he says that he has to make an announcement, everybody quiets down immediately - even Jim.

That's probably the first real sign of the apocalypse any of them have seen.

XXX

"I can't believe he's gone," Oscar tells the camera. He knows they chose to interview him because he was closest to Kevin, work-wise, but outside the office, he didn't really know the guy and he's more than a little distracted right now. "I'm sorry, can we do this another time? I'm trying to reach Gil."

XXX

They don't have access to candles or flowers from the office, but they feel bad doing nothing. It's Pam who has the idea to buy a Ring-Ding from the vending machine and set it on Kevin's desk. The rest follow suit, piling sweets one atop the other, until there's a small candy mountain blocking his empty seat from view.

As memorials go, it's not exactly high-class, but Pam thinks Kevin would have appreciated it.

XXX

"Do you really think I'm going to do an interview right now?" Stanley looks up from his framed family portrait and gives the camera his patented disbelieving stare. "Move away from my desk."

XXX

They all pile into the conference room and take their usual seats. It's almost like Movie Mondays, except for once, everyone's actually paying attention to the screen, and for once, Meredith doesn't have to hide the flask she keeps taking swigs from.

"Medical officials are advising us to stay indoors," the reporter intones, as the same warning runs across the bottom of the screen. "The virus appears to have become airborne. If you believe you have come in contact with the virus, please call your local emergency services. We repeat, please stay indoors and remain calm."

Michael switches the television off, then, and the sound of Phyllis crying softly fills the room.

XXX

"Regrets?" Phyllis is twisting her wedding band around and around her finger. She can't seem to stop. "I just ... I wish I'd met him sooner. That's all."

XXX

Toby leaves the conference room a new man, walking purposefully to his desk to gather his things.

"You can't leave," Angela protests. "Weren't you listening to the news?"

"Sasha is at day care across town." He sounds as calm as ever, but there's an undercurrent of strength in his voice that wasn't there before. "I have to get there."

Michael moves to block his exit. "Toby Flenderson, as your boss, I refuse -"

"Michael." Now he just sounds tired. "You're not my boss. You can't stop me."

Aware that all eyes are on him, Michael hesitates.

Toby takes him by the shoulders. "You're a decent person, Michael, despite ... everything. But I have a daughter out there, and I'm leaving. So get out of my way."

Michael blinks, then shifts aside. "Toby." The other man stops in the doorway, waits. "You're a good father."

Toby nods, almost smiles. Then disappears.

XXX

"Despite my heroic efforts to stop him, Toby chose to leave." Michael stares solemnly at the camera, then shakes his head. "Man, I wish he'd made it that easy back when I _had_ to let someone go."

XXX

Ryan is sitting at his old desk, staring straight ahead at nothing, his jaw clenched. His eyes are, like, piercing, Kelly thinks as she makes her way over, and with all that "I'm an executive" stubble he's grown, he looks even sexier than she'd remembered.

"Hey." She wants to keep it casual, because Cosmo always says an overeager girl is an unattractive girl, and she makes sure to hoist herself onto his desk so that he gets a killer view of her thighs. Maybe the world is ending or whatever, but nothing will stop Kelly Kapoor from getting her man. "How are you doing?"

"How am I -"he repeats, and then laughs, rubs a hand over his face. "I'm fine. I'm fine, Kelly. How are you?"

"I'm just really glad you were here today," she says earnestly, leaning forward to better display her cleavage. "It's like, fate, or something, don't you think?"

The thing is, he thinks it might be. And when she takes his hand, he doesn't let go.

XXX

"I always said I'd kill myself if Dunder-Mifflin became my real job." Ryan jerks his shoulders, still so much the brooding temp with no real direction, despite all his Blackberry appointments. "Guess this shows me."

XXX

Oscar finally gets through to Gil around noontime, and Angela shuffles through some papers and pretends not to be eavesdropping.

"I've been so worried. Are you ... oh. Oh, God. Okay. Do you want me to - no, I know. I know. It's just - hard. I can't believe - I know. Okay. Of course. I love you, too."

He hangs up and catches her staring. "Gil is - he's not feeling very well," he explains. "But he's with his family, and he doesn't want me to risk going outside. He - he -"

He breaks down then, burying his head in his hands, and Angela still doesn't approve, but she thinks about how she felt when Sparkles died and so she stands up and hugs him, very quickly.

Oscar looks up and stares at her like he's never seen her before. "Angela ... thank you."

She shrugs and goes back to her desk.

XXX

"Am I worried?" Angela's brows knit together. "Why would I be worried? _I'm_ not a sinner."

XXX

Dwight starts coughing around two o'clock.

He goes right into Michael's office and shuts the door. "Michael, I just want to say that you were a wonderful boss. It was a privilege working with you."

"Dwight, now is really not the time to suck up -" Michael begins, and then Dwight doubles over in another coughing fit and understanding dawns. "Uh, thank you, Dwight. You were a ... a wonderful assistant regional manager."

"Don't you mean ... assistant _to _the regional manager?"

"No." Michael forces a smile. "You've been promoted."

The cameraman zooms in on the joyful expression on Dwight's face, and then Michael asks them both to leave and closes the blinds.

XXX

"Dwight went home, to his farm. It's where he wanted to be. ... Where do I want to be?" Michael takes a moment to consider, his lips pursed. "I am staying right here. A good captain goes down with the ship."

He doesn't add that there's nowhere else to go, but he doesn't have to.

XXX

They take refuge, like they always have, in the break room.

"Know what the worst part is?" Jim looks pained, his face twisted up in none of the usual comedic ways. "If this is really it, if the world is ending ... then we really did work at Dunder-Mifflin forever."

Pam's shudder is only half forced.

"Hey." To comfort himself as much as her, he wraps an arm around her shoulder, holds her tight. "It wasn't a total waste of time."

"No, not completely," she agrees, and burrows closer to him.

He presses a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you, you know that?"

"I know." Her smile has always been his saving grace. "I love you, too."

XXX

Fade to black.

--

A/N: I really have no idea where this came from. Let me know what you thought!


End file.
